Monday, October 31, 2016

300 million children exposed to heavily toxic air, says UNICEF

Some 300 million children live with outdoor air so polluted it can
cause serious physical damage, including harming their developing
brains, the United Nations said in a study released Monday.

Nearly
one child in seven around the globe breathes outdoor air that is at
least six times dirtier than international guidelines, according to the study by the UN Children's Fund, which called air pollution a leading factor in child mortality. UNICEF
published the study a week before the annual UN climate-change talks,
with the upcoming round to be hosted by Morocco on November 7-18. The
agency, which promotes the rights and well-being of children, is
pushing for world leaders to take urgent action to reduce air pollution
in their countries. "Air pollution is a major
contributing factor in the deaths of around 600,000 children under five
every year, and it threatens the lives and futures of millions more
every day," said Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF. "Pollutants
don't only harm children's developing lungs. They can actually cross
the blood-brain barrier and permanently damage their developing brains
and, thus, their futures. No society can afford to ignore air
pollution," Lake said. UNICEF points to satellite imagery
which it says confirms that about two billion children live in areas
where outdoor air pollution exceeds minimum air-quality guidelines set
by the World Health Organization. The air is poisoned by vehicle emissions, fossil fuels, dust, burning waste and other airborne pollutants, it said. South
Asia has the largest number of children living in such areas at about
620 million, followed by Africa with 520 million and the East Asia and
Pacific region with 450 million. The study also looked at indoor air pollution, typically caused by burning coal and wood for cooking and heating. Together,
outdoor and indoor air pollution are directly linked to pneumonia and
other respiratory diseases that account for almost one death in 10 in
children under the age of five, making air pollution a leading danger to
children's health, UNICEF said. The agency noted that
children are more susceptible than adults to indoor and outdoor air
pollution because their lungs, brains and immune systems are still
developing and their respiratory tracts are more permeable. The
most vulnerable to illnesses caused by air pollution are children
living in poverty, who tend to have poorer health and little access to
health services. UNICEF is calling for more robust
measures to reduce pollution, increase children's access to healthcare
and to monitor and minimize children's exposure to polluted air. (AFP) France 24EduriteUNICEF